Eight fisheries ministers, from the Nordic countries of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Åland, have issued a joint statement against transnational organized crime in the global fishing industry. The statement was issued through the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Norway currently holds the chair of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and fisheries crime is one of the issues that Norway has had a particular focus on through the Nordic cooperation. In the joint statement the Ministers stated, among others, that:

“There is a need for the world community to recognize the existence of transnational organized crime in the global fishing industry and that this activity has a serious effect on the economy, distorts markets, harms the environment and undermines human rights” and that “all regions of the world need to cooperate.”

The Nordic challenges are also part of the global challenges and international cooperation between continents and regions are essential. The Nordic Council of Ministers supports two projects against fisheries crime on intelligence sharing and research and my message is that the Nordic region is ready to cooperate.

“The Nordic challenges are also part of the global challenges and international cooperation between continents and regions are essential. The Nordic Council of Ministers supports two projects against fisheries crime on intelligence sharing and research and my message is that the Nordic region is ready to cooperate,” says Dagfinn Høybråten, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

On the 25th and 26th September 2017, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, INTERPOL, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Norway, Indonesia and PescaDolus arrange an international symposium on fisheries crime in Vienna.

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